Question 2a - “Outline Adorno and Horkheimer’s Culture Industry Argument. Did their argument adequately describe the social impact of mass media?”
Adorno and Horkheimer’s Culture Industry Argument is based around mass media and mass consumption. As the exchange value of objects increase consumers become obsessed with conforming to the ideal image and judging others if the fit into this mold. Impressions are taken from material possessions rather than personality traits. As capitalism takes control over people minds, the culture industry is turned into a commodity to be mass-produced and sold to masses. These causes can lead to many socio-psychological effects on society. People becoming internalized and not being able to form judgments for themselves as mass media is forcing opinions upon them by not giving the consumer time to reflect before reacting to information. The formation of mass media leads to consumers being manipulated and deceived by the media as information is standardized and a false sense of individualism created.
The first part of Adorno and Horkheimer’s argument is around the use and exchange values of objects. As society becomes more engrossed into the capitalist side of the culture industry the use value is taken over the exchange value of the
People can become isolated within society and unable to make successful decisions for themselves. Through standardization of production, distribution and sales people are treated as a commodity. People begin to lose the aesthetic appeal of cultural events and people consumed by the fact their attendance to an event gives them status. Adorno and Horkheimer do successfully show what will happen to society if the culture industry takeover of mass media
Pop culture can be described as a wide range of mediums that are deemed acceptable and popular by society. Films, namely Walt Disney films being a clear example of a pop culture outlet that has a positive influence on society. In Adorno and Horkheimer’s critique of pop culture and society, they state that mass produced entertainment serves to shelter their broad audience to the harsh realities of their lives. That the culture industry offers a deceitful escape and a freedom from thinking. They further argue that mass produced entertainment suffers because it aims to please a broad audience. The critique states, “Every detail is so firmly stamped with sameness that nothing can appear which is not marked at birth, or does not meet with approval
The issue of the relationship between the mass media and the popular culture has always been a controversial issue in social sciences. The political economists insist on the role of the media industry in the creation of this phenomenon of the twentieth century. Though, advocates such as John Fiske, argue that popular culture is actually the creation of the populous itself, and is independent of the capitalist production process of the communication sector. Basing his argument on the immense interpretive power of the people, Fiske believes that the audience is able to break all the indented meanings within a media message. He also believes- by giving new meanings to that specific message they can oppose the power block that is trying to impose its ideology to the public. Consequently, this anarchistic activity of the audience creates the popular culture as a defence mechanism. Even when we accept Fiske’s ideas, we can not disregard the manipulative power of the media and its effects on cultural and social life.
For Walter Benjamin, the defining characteristic of modernity was mass assembly and production of commodities, concomitant with this transformation of production is the destruction of tradition and the mode of experience which depends upon that tradition. While the destruction of tradition means the destruction of authenticity, of the originally, in that it also collapses the distance between art and the masses it makes possible the liberation which capitalism both obscures and opposes. While commodity fetishism represents the alienation away from use-value and towards exchange-value, leading to the assembly line construction of the same--as we see relentlessly analyzed by Horkheimer and Adorno in their essay The Culture Industry. Benjamin believes that with the destruction of tradition, laboratory potentialities are nonetheless created. The process of the destruction of aura through mass reproduction brings about the "destruction of traditional modes of experience through shock," in response new forms of experience are created which attempt to cope with that shock.
The “culture industry” theory written by Theodor Adorno claims that popular culture comes from a small group of powerful corporations specifically designed to provide standardized commodities to their audience, with few changes made to new products (O’Brien and Szeman 120). Adorno also claims that the “culture industry” provides consumers with a sense of pseudo-individualization, where one believes that consuming something made for the “masses” provides them with a feeling of uniqueness or individuality (12). This essay will show that although Adorno wrote his article over thirty-six years ago, his claims are still valid with modern examples. Mobile phones, particularly “Smartphones” have become commodities which show the standardization and pseudo-individualization expressed in Adorno’s writings. Mobile phones express his belief that commodities offer uniformity and sameness in the guise of innovation and improvement (O’Brien and Szeman 120).
David. "Mass Media and the Loss of Individuality." Web log post. Gatlog. N.p., 11 Sept. 2007. Web. 10 May 2014.
The article “Mind over Mass Media” was written by Steven Pinker; a professor of psychology at Harvard University. His purpose of the article is to explain his reasoning on why he claims mass media has more positive effects on today’s society then negative. Steven’s audience is a mixture of people that have different opinions on the topic “Mind over Mass Media”. His main objective is to persuade his audience to believe in his way of thinking. In the text Steven expresses that, “ Far from making us stupid, these technologies are the only things that will keep us smart. Stephen uses many facts and opinions to convey his idea to the reader.
On an individual basis, popular culture helps establish and mold the subjective self. It influences the way individuals think, act and respond, and this becomes part of how people develop their personalities, preferences, beliefs, and their overall identity. For example, most people idolize certain fashion statements or fads which determines their preference of clothing. This process of self-formation coincides with both elements of personal choice and the responses and attitudes of others. Furthermore, the identity that an individual asserts is influenced by and helps determine the development of social relationships; it influences the communities and groups to which an individual will identify with and how that identification is processed. In the establishment of communal bonding, mass culture helps with, as Leavis describes, a “leveling down of society” (35). The lines of class distinction have been blurred which, to Leavis is not a good thing, but it unites us nonetheless. Popular culture also promotes unity in that it “blurs age lines” (29). As stated earlier, the products of popular culture are targeted towards a variety of audiences; adults read comic books, children watch adult films, etc. (Macdonald 29). Similarly, teenagers and young adults are brought together through night clubs, fashion, and music; college students come together to enjoy campus events; book fans wait in line hours for new releases, etc. Each of these instances produce feelings of belonging, acceptance and connection with members of society over a common
Popular culture is often referred to as being produced by the mass media ‘for’ the public, who are seen as consumers. An example of this would be the television programme ‘The X Factor’. The X Factor is produced by a large television company which is owned by a multi millionaire music mogul. The programme is shown extensively throughout the winter months, when people favour staying indoors to going outside. The concept of the show is that it entices people in during the first couple of week. This is done by showing the contestants’ auditions. The reason for t...
Theodore Adorno and Max Horkheimer were two renowned Jewish representatives of the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory; they were particularly dominant during the early 20th century, approximately around the time of the 1920’s to 1960s. They took refuge in America after Adolf Hitler’s rise in Germany. These to philosophers developed the ‘Culture Industry Theory’ in the 1940s, in light of the disturbed society they had seen during this time. They witnessed how Nazi Fascism used mass media such as films, radio and newspapers to brainwash millions into partaking in this ideology. Similarly they saw the rise of Capitalism in America, which also used mass media such as Hollywood films and advertising to disseminate the masses into the capitalist Ideology. This essay will evaluate how the ‘culture industry’ had profound social impacts in society and examine weather it is valid in contemporary society.
It is increasingly clear that media and culture today are of central importance to the maintenance and reproduction of contemporary societies. Cultures expose society to different personalities, provide models, which display various forms of societal life and cultivate various ways to introduce people into dominant forms of thought and action. These are the types of activities integrate people into society and create our public sphere. Media and technology surround our society; engrained into the fabric of our existence so much so, that it has become hard to find an aspect of life not influenced by its effects. For this reason, media controllers, wield extreme power and influence over the lives of everyday people. Although, they increasingly continue to feed the audience trash, despite their authority as the creator of our social/cultural interactions, and justify their actions by calling themselves industries. Reducing themselves to just businesses whose sole purpose is to create a profit. This admittance of what they feel to be their true purpose however does not hinder their control and power but instead adds to it. Creating a need for there to be some way to analyze and discuss whether they are using their position and power wisely. Filling this void, scholars have theorized ways for individuals to be critical of the media that they intake. One of these critical theories is the “Culture Industry” theory. Using Cultural Theory, as well as other complementary neo Marxist theories, it is possible to determine how Stacy Peralta, once urban youth culture advocate, became incorporated into the superstructure through media use, thus making him a tool for the continued commoditization of society, and a youth marketer for industries l...
...p the present time. Additionally, media can also be seen as operating in the manner it does because the system helps to keep rich, white, males- the primary owners and distributors of mass media- in a position of power. What both of these approaches suggest is that the mass media must be made more open to different perspectives and viewpoints in order to eliminate the social problems it contributes to. Modern society must strive to make all of its media outlets more similar to the genre of film, where powerful voices can emerge that challenge different viewpoints on society. When this is able to occur, the society around us will move closer to curing ills among the social variables that the current mass media in large part contributes to.
June 2004: 16 pars. Communication and Mass Media Complete. EBSCOhost. University of Denver Penrose Library, Denver. 19 Jan. 2005 <http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&an=13546585>.
Pop culture is a reflection of social change, not a cause of social change” (John Podhoretz). It encompasses the advertisements we see on T.V, the clothes we wear, the music we listen to, and it’s the reason Leonardo DiCaprio has not won an Oscar yet. It defines and dictates the desires and fears of the mainstream members of society and it is so ingrained into our lives that it has become as natural as breathing. Moreover, adults never even bat an eyelash at all the pop culture and advertising that surrounds them since it has become just another part of everyday life. Pop culture is still somewhat seen as entertainment enjoyed by the lower class members of society but pop culture standards change over time.
The mass media has played a key role in shaping people’s lives. The modern society’s use of mass media including TV, radio, newspaper, as well as print media has largely influenced people’s ideas regarding themselves and the society at large. This is evident from their behavior towards themselves and their community as well as their treatment of the environment. While some experts believe that the media is to blame for most of the negative behavioral traits among the active members of society, the majority agree that the media makes people understand and develop a positive sense of association with their society within which they live, making it easy for them to identify and get their role in it.
What popular culture and mass culture are, their significance to society and how they are consumed are very multifaceted questions that have been subject to wide debate is the fields of Sociology and Cultural Studies. Many theorists have chimed in on the debate to answer these questions. Two notable theories on this topic are that of Dwight MacDonald in his work “A Theory of Mass Culture” and John Fiske in his work “Popular Culture”. MacDonald argues that mass culture is a phenomenon that is detrimental to society. He believes that although mass culture is something that produced “by and for human beings” that is ultimately is what leads to the loss of individuality and individual thought and expression in favor